Yay Feb.

And let the downswing begin. Probably down a bunch of buy-ins over the past few days. Guess I need a break. Really expected this after I posted my goals and talked about the heater I went on to end Jan.

February

I hope the start of the month isnt how the rest of the month is planning on going.

January was probably one of my best months in my poker career. I ran extremely good at NL25. With that, I thought I was almost ready to roll up at NL50 (I was close) but then February brought me right back down to size. I guess I cant be to mad at myself because I did run like God throughout the month. It was a really great month and I cant stop talking about it (to myself). Anyways, I really didnt play all that much, in terms of days, but when I did I made the best of them. I probably totalled playing about 8-10 days the entire month, but made at least 16 BI's. And ran up a ton of poker points, which helped the bankroll a little bit. I put a lot of time in on the weekends and at nights when I was home alone. I did also put some time in on the early hours while she was sleeping, but that was only on the days where she had work the next morning. But I put a ton of overall time in studying. I studied when we made the trip to Baltimore, at work, after work, at night, almost whenever I could I was studying. I was reading new material, posting on the forums, looking through the HH's on the forums, etc. And it really has helped my game a lot. So I will continue to study because my game improved so much in just a short amount of time.

One thing I did notice in January was that I really didnt tilt much. But maybe it was just me winning so much, I am not sure. But I did begin to tilt the last two days I played, so I need to regain control over that and keep putting in the solid time. If February is suppose to be a bad month for me, thank god its a short month.

Anyways, I should be rolled up to play NL50 sometime this month, barring any meltdowns I have. I dabbled in the game yesterday, had good reads, just got sucked out on. But I have played this level before and I am very confident in myself. So if I continue to play good, study my ass off, and run lucky, I can be rolled for NL100 by April, as long as I put the time in. Its definitely hard to get time to play anymore though.

I have plans for the upcoming weekend so I probably wont play much. We are suppose to get a big snow storm this Friday (tom.) into Saturday. We were planning on going to Baltimore to the aquarium, but I am not sure how thats looking out. Then Sunday we are going to my parents house for a superbowl party. Lets go Colts -6. And then Tuesday into Wednesday we are suppose to get another storm. And of course, next weekend is Valentines Day. So we will see how much time I get into playing. I just need to find time somewhere.

Other than that, just been watching a lot of our Netflix movies and hanging out. Been trying to find other ways of making income, but its tough. Also, I am writing a guide to Beating the Micros for one of the smaller forums (unofficially). So I guess I posted on 2+2 my goals for the month, so here some of them are.

[ ] Get rolled to play NL50 and move up
[ ] Continue studying and posting
[ ] Avoid tournaments
[ ] Continue going to the gym and working out
[ ] Finish my guide to the micros
[ ] Be more social and have fun

Obviously they are very broad goals, but at least I am setting them for myself.

AHhhhhh

Im here without you Babe
But your still on my lonely mind
I think about you Babe
And I dream about you all the time

Please

Forgive me. I will make it all different. I can show you. One more time. I sware.

More Grinding

Grinded the afternoon for a little while today. Made a little bit of profit, not sure on how much. God I misssssss handgrabber and HEM. Only played one hand really bad I thought, which cost me a half stack. JQ suited hit top pair + flush draw on the flop. Raised the villain who called. Turn brought the flush, but also gave me an open ended straight flush draw. Again, raised the villain who bet. River brought an offsuit Ace, I again raised and he shoved. Turned out he ended up with A2s for the nut flush. Anyways, couple hands later hit a set of 10's against KK for a stack to bring me back up. Been playing pretty good as of lately, havent gotten many sessions in. Playing a lot of positionally aware pots and just playing some ABC with a little mix up from late positions. I think taking breaks/studying/working out has really helped my game, and I can just feel NL50 getting that much closer, which would put me right on track for NL100 by the beginning of summer.

Thats about it, just been watching movies lately. Gotta get through Tombstone either later tonight or tomorrow sometime. Probably will work out tomorrow for a little and then put it some nice time at the tables. Looking for a good day. Will update tomorrow if I end up playing

Back to the Grind

We got back from Baltimore yesterday afternoon. It was a very good and well needed trip. I will probably write about that sometime in the near future.

I did get a chance to get some studying done while we were away. I also got to think about my game and what I had just read, so it helped. The biggest help is going back to playing a very straight forward game again. TAG style for the micros. Just keep it simple, play the premium hands, bet, bet, and bet some more. Get the most value out of your hand. Again, I will mix it up occasionally, but this is the micros. I also got some reading done on hand reading and flop textures which I really think is going to help further my game down the road. I started to study while playing today and really put what I had learned in to use. Im not sure if it was the break, studying, or just hitting the deck pretty hard, but I came out a decent winner today. Hit some sets, got the most value out of them. Had some overpairs hold up for some stacks. All and all, it was a good day.

Another big thing I learned which I just got done talking about was value. I really had a great understanding at the tables today of how to get the most value out of your hand. I really think I did end up getting the most value today out of all my hands. I also didnt tilt. Took a beat AA vs KJ all in on the flop of 4 J X. Turn was a J and the river bricked for me, but I held it together.

Also, tomorrow marks the one week date of first starting to work out. I really think this is helping me physically and mentally. I will probably be posting some numbers and others of that soon as well. Anyways, off to catch some TV.

Study Time

Well, its finally study time. I have decided to take about a week off from playing to get some serious study time and evaluation of my game. I will be going to Baltimore from Friday - Monday so that will give me some extra time to study/relax so I can get my head away from the game. I have been reading the stickies, cotw's, and more HH's than I ever have on twoplustwo.com. I am hoping this will really help my game and elevate it to a new level that its been lacking. Im pretty sure I have said this before, but I really am going to put my head in to this and make it work. I am going to study my ass off and put it to good use, because 2010 is going to be my breakout year. I wish I could afford a laptop/desktop of my own so I could get HEM and Handgrabber (never got to Full Tilt). But the money isnt there right now, so it will have to wait and I will have to hold off.

My plan is to 4 table NL25 until I have a 15 Buy-Ins for NL50. At that point, I will take a shot at NL50, probably 2 tabling. I have some results and play at NL50, but not enough for me to comfortably 4 table with a 15 Buy-In rule. If I drop 2 buy-ins, I will drop back down to NL25. I am just going to play a tight, solid game value betting and getting the most money I can to build the roll up. NL100 by late summer??

Anyways, heres what I have been studying so far.

1. Isolating the limpers. Ive been playing around with different bet sizes into different villains and into numerous villains. It seems to be going over so-so. Been stealing blinds and actually isolating the limpers, which leads to c-bets. But it is also leading to very bad plays and putting me in shitty situations, which leads me to my second topic.

2. Playing a very straight-forward game. Play tight, dont bluff, dont play crappy hands, get value, and use position. I have been always telling myself to do this, but it never seems to stick in my head. Maybe thats why I am writing it here. I am just going to stick to the TAG game. And this should lead, in the long run, to a bigger bankroll.

Anyways, if I do end up playing within this week (I hope I dont), I will be playing NL5 or NL10 just to test my study ideas and put them to use. I am sticking to my plan though, I am gonig to study, study, study.

Its backs to school for me. We will see how 2010 treats me and what I am writing about next year. I am going to look back at this post for reference